Tyler Robinson enters pleas in Charlie Kirk assassination case after judge clears way for death penalty and orders alleged killer to stand trial

A Utah judge ruled that alleged Charlie Kirk killer Tyler Robinson will face trial and prosecutors could potentially seek the death penalty in the high-profile case. 

Robinson, 23, is accused of firing a single shot into Kirk’s neck, killing the 31-year-old father-of-two during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University nearly a year ago.

He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday after a judge decided Utah County prosecutors had presented enough evidence to support an aggravated murder charge and send him to trial. 

‘Viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, this evidence is sufficient at this stage to support a reasonable belief that the defendant is the individual who shot and killed Charlie Kirk,’ Judge Tony Graf ruled from the bench.

‘Accordingly, the state has demonstrated probable cause as to identity and homicide elements of count one.’ 

The judge also found that the state established probable cause for the victim-targeting allegation, enabling prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Robinson.

But Graf emphasized that whether prosecutors can ultimately prove the aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt ‘remains for trial.’ 

Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn, arrived at the courthouse arm-in-arm, their faces grim. 

‘Today’s decision, which comes nearly a year since Charlie was taken from us, marks an important step in our family’s pursuit of justice for him,’ the Kirk family said in a statement.

‘Every step in this process carries the weight of all that Charlie’s murder has taken from his family, especially his children who will grow up without their father. We are grateful to all who have continued to pray for us, support us, and stand with us through a year of unimaginable grief.’

Inside, his widow, Erika Kirk, sat beside them, briefly burying her face in her hands as the judge considered whether still frames from the shooting would be shown. 

The key question in charging Robinson with aggravated murder was whether he endangered others when he allegedly opened fire on Kirk in a crowded area.

Prosecutors argued Robinson knowingly put more than 3,000 people in danger by allegedly firing into the crowd, creating the ‘great risk of death’ they say is required to keep execution in play.

His lawyers countered that the state had failed to meet the legal threshold, arguing he had a specific target and a plan to hit him – not put the crowd in the crosshairs. 

District Judge Tony Graf gave both sides up to two hours each for closing arguments, followed by a one-hour break before announcing his decision from the bench.

The sealed proceeding finally brought months of fiery courtroom battles – and an unusually long preliminary hearing – to an end. 

As closing arguments got underway, with cameras allowed in the courtroom by the judge, Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride told the court the evidence points directly to Robinson as the gunman who shot Kirk dead last September. 

He declared that ‘it’s not difficult to understand motive here,’ alleging he pulled the trigger because he opposed Kirk’s conservative views, including his stances on Catholicism and ‘traditional’ marriage. 

Kirk’s positions on same-sex marriage and transgender surgeries were sharply at odds with those of Robinson, who was reportedly in a romantic relationship with his roommate, Lance Twiggs, the state argued. 

McBride told the judge Robinson returned to the UVU campus ‘dressed to kill’ after scouting vantage points, allegedly changing into a black shirt and long pants to conceal the rifle he had hidden down his pants. 

Cameras allegedly caught him studying the area earlier that day before he returned armed with a rifle, McBride said.

He allegedly used a screwdriver he had left behind to reassemble part of the weapon before climbing onto the roof. 

‘There, he lay down in a prone position, and he would have seen this mass of people of 3,000 plus people there for the event, took aim, put his crosshairs on Charlie Kirk, and fired,’ McBride said.

McBride then got into the aggravating factors, rejecting the defense’s claim that one shot and no second victim meant the charge could not apply, arguing that interpretation twisted the law.

‘You can’t shoot a rifle into a crowd of 3,000 people without knowing that you create a great risk of death to all those around your target,’ he said.

McBride said testimony showed Robinson fired from just a football field away, arguing it was a matter of ‘millimeters’ between the bullet hitting Kirk and striking someone else. 

‘He came on a mission to kill Charlie Kirk, and if he missed, so be it. He was prepared to take other shots and let the casualties be what they may,’ he said.

McBride pointed to the Trump rally shooting in Pennsylvania as a chilling reminder of the danger of firing into a crowded public event.

He said the president narrowly escaped death when he turned his head, sending the bullet through his ear, while errant rounds struck three other people, killing one. 

‘Not only is there common sense, but there’s recent precedent,’ the prosecutor said.

‘You shoot at someone in a public assassination attempt, you have a great risk of killing someone else,’ he added. 

Robinson, he argued, knew his aim was not perfect – as shown by his target-practice records – yet still carried extra rounds to the event. 

McBride wrapped up his argument by insisting that the 23-year-old killed Kirk simply because ‘he disagreed with him.’ 

‘He did it by firing a high-powered rifle into a group of thousands who surrounded Charlie Kirk literally on all sides,’ he said.

The attorney asked the judge to find probable cause that Robinson knowingly put others at grave risk of death – the aggravating factor that could keep execution on the table.

He also pressed for additional charges alleging Robinson hid the rifle, ditched clothing and told his partner Twiggs to delete messages and keep silent.

Defense attorney Staci Visser then took the floor, arguing that prosecutors had failed to present evidence showing Robinson knowingly created the ‘risk of death.’

She said previous cases lay out three factors for establishing the circumstance: the link between the killing and the danger to others, how close those people were to the victim and how seriously they were threatened. 

‘There were no actual threats by the assailant to the third party. There was no evidence that would suggest that anyone else was threatened,’ Visser said.

She tore into the state’s case, accusing prosecutors of building key parts of their argument on speculation and pointing to the screwdriver found on the roof as one example. 

Prosecutors said the screwdriver that was allegedly used to disassemble and reassemble the rifle contained DNA similar to Robinson’s. Visser acknowledged the state was likely using it to place him on the roof. 

‘The state goes on to ask this court to infer that the rifle was taken apart and put back together with the screwdriver. The state didn’t show actually how that would happen with the screwdriver,’ she told the court. ‘This is just speculation.’

Prosecutors also presented shooting targets riddled with ‘perforations’ that were found in the closet of Robinson’s shared apartment, she said.

In July, the state argued that Robinson ‘loaded his rifle with four cartridges’ and had previously practiced shooting, where he ‘seldom hit the bullseye and sometimes missed the target completely.’ 

Because he knew he could have missed, the state argued that numerous people were ‘within a zone of danger.’ 

‘They didn’t say what kind of gun. We don’t know when those were shot. We don’t know who shot them, and we don’t know the conditions under which those were shot at. They are just targets,’ Visser told the court on Tuesday.

Robinson turned himself in just one day after the killing and now faces a single charge of aggravated murder – an offense punishable by death by firing squad. He also faces six additional serious charges, including witness tampering.

The landmark decision after prosecutors spent five days in July laying out what they called ‘overwhelming’ evidence against Robinson, much of which they reiterated during Tuesday’s hearing.

At the time, the state unveiled a trove of new evidence, including photographs of the rifle allegedly used in the killing. 

They also presented recorded testimony from Robinson’s former partner, images of their text messages and surveillance footage from UVU, shown in court for the first time. 

Former State Bureau of Investigation agent David Hull walked through the 23-year-old’s alleged movements before and after the shooting, starting with Robinson’s arrival at the university hours earlier. 

He testified that Robinson grabbed a meal from a campus Chick-fil-A before speaking with Turning Point USA representatives. 

Robinson then allegedly changed clothes before taking up a rooftop position overlooking the amphitheater where Kirk was speaking. 

Video shown to the court captured him crouching on the rooftop in the seconds before the killing, Hull testified. After the shot rang out, he allegedly sprinted across the roof, jumped to ground level and fled on foot. 

The poor-aim argument was one of two key planks in the state’s bid to keep the death penalty on the table. The other was an engraved bullet that prosecutors say offered evidence of Robinson’s alleged political motive. 

A bullet allegedly found in the suspected murder weapon was inscribed with ‘Hey Fascist! CATCH!’ – evidence prosecutors said showed that the right-wing influencer was targeted over his political views.

They also cited a text message Robinson allegedly wrote about Kirk: ‘I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.’

Before his death, Kirk and the conservative organization he co-founded, Turning Point USA, helped galvanize young voters and mobilize support for President Donald Trump’s successful bid for a second term. 

Robinson’s roommate, Lance Twiggs, told investigators that Robinson had been considering a gender transition around the time of Kirk’s killing.

Prosecutors revealed a handwritten note Robinson allegedly left for Twiggs that read in part: ‘I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.’ 

DNA evidence also emerged linking Robinson, investigators said, to the suspected murder weapon – a bolt-action rifle with one spent round – and a tool allegedly used to engrave the bullet cartridges. 

The weapon was found wrapped in a towel in a nearby wooded area and contained DNA from both Robinson and Twiggs, Sgt Jennifer Faumuina of the Utah Department of Public Safety testified in July. 

In a recorded interview, Twiggs said Robinson never spoke about Kirk before the shooting and rarely discussed gender issues or LGBTQ+ rights. He did, however, sometimes talk about politics, including Trump. 

Twiggs later told police that Robinson allegedly confessed to killing Kirk and admitted he ‘wished he hadn’t done it.’ 

Throughout the proceedings, Robinson’s attorneys have repeatedly challenged the reliability of DNA tests and other evidence presented by prosecutors.

Even with the case now moving forward, Utah-based attorney Lazaro warned that the legal sparring could continue for months before Robinson ever faces a jury, he told Fox News. 

‘I do think we’re going to see a lot more litigation come down the road in terms of 1102 and expert-witness designations, forensic testimony on the ballistics and things like that,’ she told the outlet.